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Nearly 145 students applied to attend Canal Winchester schools through open enrollment, nearly
double the number of spots available.

The district’s policy caps the number of open-enrollment seats at 75, with priority given to
children of employees who live outside the district and those who attended Canal Winchester schools
but moved.

There are 49 students who fall under both categories. As a result, only 26 seats are available
for the 95 remaining applicants — most of them from Columbus and Groveport.

“I was surprised to see this many,” Canal Winchester Superintendent Jim Sotlar said. “I’m hoping
it means that people see Canal Winchester as a great school system, and they think their child will
receive a great education.”

• • •

Where will Columbus City Schools Superintendent Gene Harris end up?

She retires from the district on Friday, and although she hasn’t said what’s next, Ohio
University’s president said that he’d love to have her teach a class at the Athens campus.

“I haven’t reached out to her, but we might want to try to get her before Ohio State University
does,” President Roderick J. McDavis said.

Harris, 60, is a graduate of Ohio University and until recently was chairwoman of its board of
trustees. McDavis said he planned to give Harris the number of the dean of the college of education
in case she wants to give teaching a try.

• • •

We told you recently that investigators with the state auditor’s office had seized records from
a Columbus schools’ administration building this month.

It was the second time investigators obtained a court-ordered search warrant to remove records
from the district. This time, investigators wanted teachers’ grade books from the 2010-11 school
year, which already had been collected by Carolyn Smith, the district’s internal auditor, as part
of her investigation.

But it wasn’t just a handful of grade books that investigators sought. A copy of the warrant
obtained by
The Dispatch shows that the auditor’s special investigators hauled away 30 boxes of
teachers’ grade books.

The warrant doesn’t say why they wanted the books, but it’s safe to assume the records are being
used in the auditor’s examination of grade changes. Some Columbus principals and assistant
principals appear to have changed large numbers of students’ grades, particularly from failing to
passing, for no apparent reason after the school year ended.